The present invention is concerned with a method for processing images and, more particularly, with a method enabling the processing of a digitised image in view of obtaining a photographic print therefrom. The invention is also concerned with an installation for carrying out this method.
There are numerous devices such as digital photographic apparatuses or cameras which allow the acquisition of images under a digitised form. The viewing of images thus obtained can be carried out, for example, using a personal computer or a television set equipped with an appropriate reader. A personal computer is perfectly suited for processing such images in order to modify them before their viewing or their dispatching carried out electronically via a network. However, it is often desirable to have such images printed on paper and the peripheral unit for printing out these images is often not of the quality required. Actually, existing ink jet colour printers for example have a resolution of about 300 lines per inch which is inadequate for the restitution of digitised photographic images. By comparison, the resolution which can be obtained through the chemical development of a 35 mm film is of about 2500 lines per inch. Other printing devices such as the dye sublimation printers are restricted in their use to professionals, because of their very high cost. Furthermore, the totally digital processing by these devices implies that the pixels transferred on the paper support all exhibit the same shape, generally square, which induces a  less than  less than  stair stepping effect  greater than  greater than  in the final print. The purpose of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks by providing a method for processing digitised images, which enable the user to obtain a print of a photographic quality from a digitised image stored previously on an appropriate support. This objective is attained through a method which is characterised by the features set forth in claim 1, as well as an installation such as that claimed in claim 6. Other advantages, such as the possibility of processing the images separately or by batches, as well as the integration of the process into a conventional development operation necessitating no human intervention are set forth in the dependent claims and in the following description.